Every Thursday evening during lockdown people would leave their houses and go into the street to clap in applause at the kindness and heroism of the National Health Service who have done so much to save people, with little regard for themselves. It is the only time of the week that you see other people. There has not been this kind of unity since the Blitz in the United Kingdom.
I have painted, drawn and sculpted many hand and feet motifs in the past. But now the image of many clapping hands has a special significance. It is one of the icons of our time. Henry Moore drew unforgettable images of Londoners in the underground sheltering during the Blitz. I feel that the clapping citizens are the leitmotif of our time. It is a beautiful and moving motif that somehow shows the beauty and essential good of humanity, and that is a very positive thing to have emerged from all of this.
